Solid-state imaging device, production method of the same, and imaging apparatus

ABSTRACT

A solid-state imaging device in which a pixel circuit formed on the first surface side of a semiconductor substrate is shared by a plurality of light reception regions and second surface side of the semiconductor substrate is the light incident side of the light reception regions. The second surface side regions of the light reception regions are arranged at approximately even intervals and the first surface side regions of the light reception regions e are arranged at uneven intervals. Respective second surface side regions and first surface side regions are joined in the semiconductor substrate so that the light reception regions extend from the second surface side to the first surface side of the semiconductor substrate.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of and claims the benefit under 35U.S.C. §120 of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/257,644, titled“SOLID-STATE IMAGING DEVICE, PRODUCTION METHOD OF THE SAME, AND IMAGINGAPPARATUS,” filed on Apr. 21, 2014, which is a continuation of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 13/928,915, filed on Jun. 27, 2013, now U.S.Pat. No. 8,749,008, which is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 13/438,425, filed on Apr. 3, 2012, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,497,561,which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/852,747,filed on Aug. 9, 2010, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,173,479, which is a divisionof U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/124,496, filed on May 21, 2008,now U.S. Pat. No. 7,884,436, which claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C.§119 of Japanese Patent Application JP 2007-138081, filed on May 24,2007. The entire contents of these applications are hereby incorporatedherein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a solid-state imaging device with a CMOS sensorfor example, a production method of the same, and an imaging apparatus.

Recently, for the purpose of installing a camera function in a mobileapparatus such as a mobile phone, etc., demand for making a solid-stateimaging device compact is increasing.

In a solid-state imaging device such as a CMOS image sensor, etc.,generally a structure is adopted in which photodiodes (PDs) are arrangedat constant intervals, for example, in a square lattice to sampleincident light.

Therefore, the problem is arising that with downsizing of thesolid-state imaging device as described above and miniaturization of theunit pixel due to the increase in the number of pixels, the area of a PDdecreases and the characteristics of the solid-state imaging device,such as the saturation signal amount, the sensitivity, etc., decreases.

In the past, to prevent such decrease in the characteristics of thesolid-state imaging device, a method has been adopted in which thedecrease in the area of the PD is suppressed by decreasing the area oftransistors in a unit pixel. However, there is a limit in keeping thecharacteristics of the solid-state imaging device with the method ofkeeping the area of the PD by decreasing the area of the transistors.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publications No. 63-100879 andNo. 2004-128193 describe a CMOS image sensor in which a pixel circuitother than the PD and the charge-transfer transistor are shared byneighboring unit pixels (see, for example, page 4, FIG. 4 of JP No.63-100879 and paragraph numbers [0019]-[0040] and FIG. 2 of JP No.2004-128193).

In the above-described CMOS image sensor, the number of transistors andthe number of wirings per a unit pixel can be decreased, and as aresult, a relatively large area can be secured for the PD, so that it ispossible to cope with the miniaturization of the unit pixel.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

However, in the structure described in the above-described JPPublications, in each unit pixel, a PD and a circuit region that isshared by neighboring unit pixels are mixed. In this case, because theshared region is arranged between neighboring unit pixels, the relativepositions PDs occupy in the neighboring unit pixels generally differbetween the neighboring unit pixels.

As a result, in the planar configuration, the PDs are arranged not in asquare lattice but at uneven intervals.

When PDs are not arranged at even intervals, incident light is sampled,spatially at uneven intervals. In this case, the following problemsarise.

a) The need to correct the sampled signal arises, so that as comparedwith the case that PDs are arranged at even intervals, signal processingbecomes complicated.

b) If the arrangement of PDs differs depending on the type of the CMOSsensor, signal processing also has to be changed accordingly.

c) When an image with lights and darks in a stripe pattern is imaged,especially when the extending direction of stripes is oblique relativeto the arrangement of pixels, it becomes difficult to reproduceintervals, colors, etc. of the stripes.

d) Because usual signal processing ICs are designed on the assumptionthat sampling is carried out at even intervals, it is highly likely thattypical signal processing ICs may not be used and system structure islimited.

e) In the pixels in the periphery parts far from the optical axis, lightis obliquely incident, so that the output manner of shading is caused todiffer due to the arrangement at uneven intervals of the PDs. Forexample, even when a white subject is imaged, an upper edge and a loweredge thereof are colored and in addition, are colored in differentcolors, so that correction of the shading becomes difficult.

Because the above-described inconveniences arise, it is preferable thatsampling of the incident light is carried out at even intervals.

To solve the above-described problems, in the past, the followingmethods have been taken.

1) Arranging transistors evenly around a PD so that PDs are arranged ateven intervals

2) Providing an extra space so that PDs are arranged at even intervals

3) With respect to PDs arranged at uneven intervals, adequatelynarrowing the optical opening and arranging light incident regions ateven intervals

With respect to the above-described method 1), in almost all of varioussolid-state imaging devices such as a CMOS sensor, etc., because it isextremely difficult to arrange PDs at completely equal intervals, itresults in reducing the area of the PDs and decreasing thecharacteristics of pixel circuits such as conversion gain, etc.

With respect to the above-described method 2), similarly, it results inreducing the area of the PDs and decreasing the characteristics of pixelcircuits.

In the above-described method 3), there is an inconvenience thatsensitivity is caused to fall.

As another example of a CMOS sensor, the applicant has proposed arear-surface-incident-type CMOS sensor in Japanese Unexamined PatentApplication Publication No. 2003-31785. The proposedrear-surface-incident-type CMOS sensor receives light from the rear sideas illustrated in FIG. 1.

In FIG. 1, by polishing a substrate made of silicon, etc. by means ofCMP (Chemical Mechanical Polishing), a silicon part 204 about 10-20 μmthick is formed. Gate electrodes 212 and wiring layers 211 are formed onone surface (i.e., the front surface) side of the silicon part 204 viaan interlayer insulating layer and thereby a gate/wiring part 203 isformed. Further, a support substrate 201 is joined on the gate/wiringpart 203 by means of an adhesive 202. Color filters 206 and on-chiplenses 207 are formed on the other surface (the rear surface) side ofthe silicon part 204 while sandwiching a SiO₂ film 205.

In the silicon part 204, impurity regions 214 of n-type for example,which become source and drain regions of the gate electrodes 212, andphotoelectric conversion regions 213, each including a p-type impurityregion and an n-type impurity region constituting a PD, are formed, andimpurity regions 205 of n-type for example, which become light incidentregions, are formed on the rear surface side of the silicon part 204 tobe connected with the n-type impurity regions of the photoelectricconversion regions 213. Further, a p-type impurity region 216 is formedthroughout on the surface on the rear surface side of the silicon part204.

With the above-described configuration, in contrast to that in CMOSsensors in related art, a pixel structure of afront-surface-incident-type has been adopted, in which, the wiring layerside is made the front surface side and the incident light is taken infrom the wiring layer side, in the example illustrated in FIG. 1, theincident light is taken in from the surface side opposite the wiringlayer 211 (i.e., rear surface side), that is, the rear-surface-incidenttype structure is adopted. When the rear-surface-incident-type structureis adopted, as apparent from the incident light indicated by arrows 200and the pixel structure, it is possible to avoid restriction incondensing due to vignetting at the wiring layers 211 and to therebyenhance condensing efficiency.

However, in the rear-surface-incident-type structure, only the designsin which PDs are arranged at even intervals are known. This is becausethat unless the PDs are arranged at even intervals, the above-describedproblems occur. Therefore, it is difficult to achieve both sharing ofpixel circuits and arranging PDs at even intervals, as in the case offront-surface-incident-type structure.

The invention was conceived in view of the above-described and otherproblems and addresses avoiding, when pixel circuits are shared by aplurality of light reception regions, signal processing from becomingcomplicated due to the arrangement of the light reception regions atuneven intervals.

According to an embodiment of the invention, a solid-state imagingdevice includes a semiconductor substrate with a first surface and asecond surface opposite the first surface, a plurality of lightreception regions formed in the semiconductor substrate, respectivelyhaving first surface side regions formed in a first surface side part ofthe semiconductor substrate and second surface side regions formed in asecond surface side part of the semiconductor substrate, and a pixelcircuit formed on the first surface side of the semiconductor substrateand shared by the plurality of light reception regions. The secondsurface side, opposite the first surface side where the pixel circuit isformed, of the semiconductor substrate is made a light incident side ofthe light reception regions. The second surface side regions of thelight reception regions formed in the second surface side part of thesemiconductor substrate are arranged at approximately even intervals andthe first surface side regions of the light reception regions formed inthe first surface side part of the semiconductor substrate are arrangedat uneven intervals, respectively, and the second surface side regionsand the first surface side regions of the light reception regions arejoined respectively in the semiconductor substrate so that the lightreception regions extend from the second surface side to the firstsurface side of the semiconductor substrate.

According to another embodiment of the invention, an imaging apparatusincludes a solid-state imaging device, an imaging optical unit guidinglight from an imaging subject to the solid-state imaging device, and asignal processing unit processing an image signal outputted from thesolid-state imaging device. The solid-state imaging device includes asemiconductor substrate with a first surface and a second surfaceopposite the first surface, a plurality of light reception regionsformed in the semiconductor substrate, respectively having first surfaceside regions formed in a first surface side part of the semiconductorsubstrate and second surface side regions formed in a second surfaceside part of the semiconductor substrate, and a pixel circuit formed onthe first surface side of the semiconductor substrate and shared by theplurality of light reception regions. The second surface side, oppositethe first surface side where the pixel circuit is formed, of thesemiconductor substrate is made a light incident side of the lightreception regions. The second surface side regions of the lightreception regions formed in the second surface side part of thesemiconductor substrate are arranged at approximately even intervals andthe first surface side regions of the light reception regions formed inthe first surface side part of the semiconductor substrate are arrangedat uneven intervals, respectively, and the second surface side regionsand the first surface side regions of the light reception regions arejoined respectively in the semiconductor substrate so that the lightreception regions extend from the second surface side to the firstsurface side of the semiconductor substrate.

According to still another embodiment of the invention, a productionmethod of a solid-state imaging device is provided. The productionmethod includes steps of; implanting impurity of a firstconductivity-type from a first surface side of a semiconductor substrateto form second surface side regions of light reception regions atapproximately even intervals in a second surface side part of thesemiconductor substrate; forming device separation regions in a firstsurface side part of the semiconductor substrate; forming gateelectrodes on the first surface of the semiconductor substrate;implanting second conductivity-type impurity on the second surface sideregions of the light reception regions from the first surface side ofthe semiconductor substrate to form first surface side regions of thelight reception regions at uneven intervals in the first surface sidepart of the semiconductor substrate; forming an interlayer insulatinglayer and wiring layers on the first surface of the semiconductorsubstrate; and etching the semiconductor substrate from the secondsurface side opposite the first surface of the semiconductor substrateto expose the second surface side regions of the light reception regionsarranged at approximately even intervals in the second surface side partof the semiconductor substrate. The step of implanting impurity from thefirst surface side of the semiconductor substrate to form the secondsurface side regions of the light reception regions is carried outbefore the step of forming the device separation regions.

As described above, in the solid-state imaging device and the imagingapparatus according to embodiments of the invention, a pixel circuit isshared by a plurality of light reception regions, and the solid-stateimaging device is configured as a rear-surface-incident type device thatthe second surface side, opposite the first surface side where the pixelcircuit is formed, of the semiconductor substrate is made a lightincident side of the light reception regions. In particular, the firstsurface side of the light reception regions are arranged at unevenintervals in the first surface side part of the semiconductor substrateso that the pixel circuit to be formed on the first surface side of thesemiconductor substrate can be arranged relatively reasonably, and atthe same time, the second surface side regions of the light receptionregions are arranged at approximately even intervals in the secondsurface side part of the semiconductor substrate. That is, the secondsurface side regions and the first surface side regions of the lightreception regions are joined respectively in the semiconductor substrateso that the light reception regions extend from the second surface sideto the first surface side of the semiconductor substrate. In otherwords, in the semiconductor substrate, respective light receptionregions are formed so as to extend from the second surface side to thefirst surface side of the semiconductor substrate in shapes differentfrom those of neighboring light reception regions, and they are arrangedat uneven intervals on the first surface side of the semiconductorsubstrate and at approximately even intervals on the second surface sideof the semiconductor substrate, respectively, and thereby deterioratingimage quality and introducing complexity to signal processing can beavoided.

Further, according to the production method of the solid-state imagingdevice according to an embodiment of the invention, the solid-stateimaging device with the above-described configuration can be relativelyeasily produced. In particular, because the second surface side regionsof the light reception regions, which become the light incident regionson the rear surface side of the semiconductor substrate, are formed byimplanting impurity from the first surface side of the semiconductorsubstrate in the relatively early step, the variation in the density ofthe impurity in the regions can be suppressed by diffusing the impurityin the subsequent heating step. Further, by carrying out the step ofimplanting the first conductivity-type impurity from the first surfaceside of the semiconductor substrate before the step of forming thedevice separation regions, the impurity does not pass the deviceseparation regions, so that the second surface side regions of the lightreception regions as the light incident regions can be formed in moreuniform impurity density.

According to the solid-state imaging device and the imaging apparatusaccording to embodiments of the invention, in the case that a pixelcircuit is shared by a plurality of light reception regions,deterioration of image quality and complication of signal processing dueto that the light reception regions are arranged at uneven intervals canbe avoided.

Further, according to the production method of the solid-state imagingdevice according to an embodiment of the invention, the solid-stateimaging device avoiding signal processing from becoming complicated canbe produced relatively easily, and in particular, it becomes possible tosuppress variation in the impurity density in the impurity regionsconstituting the light reception regions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross section illustrating a construction of anexisting rear-surface-incident-type solid-state imaging device.

FIG. 2 is a schematic planer view of a solid-state imaging deviceaccording to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of a pixel circuit of thesolid-state imaging device.

FIG. 4 is a schematic planer view illustrating an exemplaryconfiguration of the solid-state imaging device when the pixel circuitillustrated in FIG. 3 is laid out on a planer surface.

FIG. 5A is a schematic planer view of apart of the planer view of FIG.4.

FIG. 5B is a cross section on an AA′ line in FIG. 5A.

FIG. 6A, FIG. 6B, and FIG. 6C are production process diagrams of a firstpart of a production method of the solid-state imaging device accordingto an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 7A, FIG. 7B and FIG. 7C are production process diagrams of a secondpart of the production method of the solid-state imaging device.

FIG. 8 is a production process diagram of a third part of the productionmethod of the solid-state imaging device.

FIG. 9 is a production process diagram of a fourth part of theproduction method of the solid-state imaging device.

FIG. 10 is a production process diagram of a fifth part of theproduction method of the solid-state imaging device.

FIG. 11 is a schematic planer configuration diagram of a principal partof the solid-state imaging device according to another embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 12 is a schematic planer configuration diagram of a principal partof the solid-state imaging device according to another embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 13 is a schematic planer configuration diagram of a pixel part ofthe solid-state imaging device according to another embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 14 is a schematic planer configuration diagram of a pixel part ofthe solid-state imaging device according to another embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 15 is a schematic planer configuration diagram of a pixel part ofthe solid-state imaging device according to another embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 16 is a schematic configuration diagram of an imaging apparatusaccording to an embodiment of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Example of preferred embodiments of the invention will now be describedwith reference to drawings. The invention is not limited to the examplesdescribed below.

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of a solid-state imaging deviceaccording to an embodiment of the invention. As illustrated in FIG. 2, asolid-state imaging device 10 includes a pixel part 1, a vertical drivecircuit 2, a column circuit 3, a horizontal drive circuit 4, a controlcircuit 5, a horizontal bus 6, and an output circuit 7. These parts aremounted on a substrate (not shown).

In the pixel part 1, a number of pixels are arranged in a line-columnstate. Further, a pixel drive wiring (not shown) extending in the linedirection is arranged for each line of pixels, and a vertical signalline (now shown) extending in the column direction is arranged for eachcolumn of pixels.

Respective pixels of the pixel part 1 are driven by the pixel drivewiring. The signal for the pixel is an analog signal and is outputted tothe vertical signal line.

The control circuit 5 receives input clocks, and data instructing anoperation mode, etc., and outputs data such as internal information ofthe solid-state imaging device 10. Further, the control circuit 4supplies clocks and pulses necessary for driving the vertical drivecircuit 2, the horizontal circuit 4, the column unit 3, and the outputcircuit 7.

The vertical drive circuit 2 selects a pixel drive wiring, and suppliespulses for driving pixels to the selected pixel drive wiring. By drivinga pixel drive wiring, pixels of one line associated with the pixel drivewiring are simultaneously driven.

In the column unit 3, columns circuits are arranged to correspond to thecolumns of pixels. The column circuits take in pixel signals ofrespective columns in the pixel part 1 from the vertical signal lines ofthe pixel part 1. The column unit 3 carries out CDS (Correlated DoubleSampling), which is fixed-pattern noise removing processing, signalamplification processing, AD conversion processing, etc. on the taken-inpixel signals.

The horizontal drive circuit 4 sequentially selects column circuits ofthe column unit 3, and guides the signals held in the column circuits tothe horizontal bus 6.

The output circuit 7 processes the signals from the horizontal bus 6 andoutputs the processed signals. For example, sometimes only buffering iscarried out, and sometimes processes are carried out, such as blacklevel adjustment, column variation correction, various types of digitalsignal processing, etc.

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary structure of a pixel circuit in a pixelof the solid-state imaging device 10. In this example, four sets of alight reception unit 61 (61 a-61 d), each including a photodiode (PD),etc. and constituting a light reception region, and a transfertransistor 62 (62 a-42 d) share a set of a reset transistor 67, anamplification transistor 64, and a selection transistor 65, constitutinga pixel circuit.

The light reception units 61 a-61 d including PDs, etc. as photoelectricconversion elements are connected with a floating diffusion (FD) 63 viathe transfer transistors 62 a-62 d, respectively. The floating diffusion63 is a node including two diffusion layers corresponding to drains ofthe transfer transistors 62 a-62 d, gates of the amplificationtransistor 64, and a wiring connecting these diffusion layers and gates.The transfer transistors 62 a-62 d transfer photoelectrons of the lightreception units 61 a-61 d to the floating diffusion 63. Because thevoltage of the gates of the amplification transistor 64 is the one ofthe floating diffusion 63, if the selection transistor 65 is turned on,the amplification transistor 64 outputs a signal corresponding to thepotential of the floating diffusion 63 to the vertical signal line 68.The reset transistor 67 resets the floating diffusion 63 by dischargingthe electrons of the floating diffusion 53 to a power source (Vdd)wiring 66.

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary configuration of the solid-state imagingdevice 10 when the pixel circuit illustrated in FIG. 3 is laid out on aplaner surface. Here, for the sake of the viewability, metal wiringsother than wirings 69 of the floating diffusion 63 and contacts betweenmetal wirings are omitted. In FIG. 4, the direction of lines in FIG. 2is indicated by an arrow x and the direction of columns in FIG. 2 isindicated by an arrow y. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the pair of the lightreception units 61 a, 61 b and the pair of the light reception units 61c, 61 d are respectively arranged substantially symmetrically in thecolumn direction indicated by the arrow y, and the floating diffusion63, the reset transistor 67, contact units 70, and the transfertransistors 62 a, 62 b, 62 c, 62 d of the light reception units 61 a, 61b, 61 c, 61 d are disposed between the light reception units 61 a, 61 b,61 c, 61 d thus arranged. Specifically, they are disposed between thelight reception unit 61 a and the light reception unit 61 b and betweenthe light reception unit 61 c and the light reception unit 61 d, thatis, in every other in-between space of light reception units withrespect to the column direction. In this case, an interval D1 of thelight reception unit 61 b and the light reception unit 61 c and aninterval D2 of the light reception unit 61 c and the light receptionunit 61 d are different, so that the light reception units are arrangedat uneven interval.

The cross section structure of the pixel circuit is described referringto FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B. FIG. 5A illustrates a part of the schematicplaner diagram of FIG. 4, and FIG. 5B illustrates a cross sectionstructure at an AA′ line of FIG. 5A. In FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B, the partscorresponding to those in FIG. 4 are denoted by the same referencesymbols and overlapped description is omitted. In FIG. 5A, for theconvenience sake, the planar structure diagram illustrated in FIG. 4 isrotated 90 degrees transversely. In FIG. 5B, the wirings, the supportsubstrate, the color filter, the on-chip lens, etc. are omitted and onlya semiconductor substrate 11 consisted of silicon, etc., and thetransfer transistors 62 a-62 d are illustrated.

The invention is characterized in that the shapes in the depth directionof the light reception units 61 a-61 d are made different betweenneighboring pixels. In the illustrated example, in the part on the firstsurface 11A side where pixel circuits are formed of a semiconductorsubstrate 11, second conductivity-type impurity regions 21 a-21 d forexample of p-type and first-type impurity regions 20 a-20 d for exampleof n-type are formed at uneven intervals separated by device separationregions 18, as first surface side regions of the light receptionregions. On the other hand, in the part on the second surface 11B side,which is on the opposite side of the first surface 11A side where pixelcircuits are formed and which is on the light incident side, of thesemiconductor substrate 11, first conductivity-type impurity regions 17a-17 d for example of n⁻-type of relatively low density, which areconnected with the first conductivity-type impurity regions 20 a-20 d,are formed at uneven intervals, as second surface side regions of thelight reception regions, and thereby the light reception regions 61 a-61d are formed.

At this time, as indicated by broken lines Ca-Cd, junction parts of thefirst surface 11A side regions, i.e., the second conductivity-typeimpurity regions 21 a-21 d and the first-type impurity regions 20 a-20d, and the second surface 11B side regions, i.e., the firstconductivity-type impurity regions 17 a-17 d, of the light receptionunits 61 a-61 d are differently shaped depending on the arrangementpositions of the impurity regions in the first surface 11A side part andthe arrangement positions of the impurity regions in the second surface11B side part. That is, in this example, the junction parts Ca-Cd areformed differently in junction position and area between neighboringpixels, so to say, within the semiconductor substrate 11, impurityregions are connected with each other while being bent. By thusselecting the injunction positions appropriately, the light receptionunits 61 a-61 d can be arranged at approximately even intervals in thesecond surface 11B side part of the semiconductor substrate 11, which isthe light incident side, even if the arrangement thereof is at uneveninterval in the first surface 11A side part, so that spatial sampling ofpixels is carried out approximately at even intervals.

Accordingly, the problems that have been addressed in the past either bysacrificing the characteristics of pixels or by bending the optical pathare solved in the invention by bending the path of photo-electricallyconverted electrons pixel by pixel.

It should be noted that the number of layers of impurity regions is notlimited to the illustrated one, and can be two or four or more. However,it is preferable that the junction surfaces of the p-type regions andthe n-type regions have approximately the same shape and area inrespective pixels. Further, the p-type and the n-type may be reversed.

When the structures in the depth direction of the light reception unitsare different between neighboring pixels, there is a possibility thatshading occurs depending on the difference of the structures. That is,in FIG. 5B, when light enters at a slanted angle from the second surface11B side as indicated by arrows La-Ld, depending on the difference inthe relative positions between the first conductivity-type impurityregions 17 a-17 d and the junction parts surrounded by the broken linesCa-Cd, there is a possibility that the light reaches or the light doesnot reach the first conductivity-type impurity regions 20 a-20 d on thefirst conductivity-type impurity regions 17 a-17 d. In the illustratedexample, the light does not reach the first conductivity-type impurityregions 20 c and 20 d as indicated by the tip ends of the arrows Lc andLd in the regions 20 c and 20 d.

To avoid such variation, it is important that photoelectrical conversionis sufficiently performed in the first conductivity-type impurityregions 17 a-17 d arranged at approximately even intervals in the secondsurface 11B side part of the semiconductor substrate 11 and that a largeamount of light does not pass through the regions 17 a-17 d. Therefore,it is preferable that the first conductivity-type impurity regions 17a-17 d extend him or more from the second surface 11B in the depthdirection of the semiconductor substrate 11. Further, to deplete theregions 17 a-17 d to transmit photo-electrically converted electrons tothe first surface 11A side by an electric field, it is preferable that adepth “ts” from the second surface 11B is 5 μm or less.

Next, a production method of the solid-state imaging device 10 accordingto an embodiment of the invention is described referring to productionprocess diagrams of FIG. 6A through FIG. 10. Description will be madeonly with respect to the principal points taking a part of the regionsillustrated in FIG. 5B as an example.

Process (1):

This example is the case that a SOI (Semiconductor On Insulator)substrate is used, and as illustrated in FIG. 6A, a silicon part, whichis formed on a substrate 13 consisted of silicon, etc. through aninsulating film 12 consisted of an embedded oxide film, etc., may beused as a semiconductor substrate 11. That is, the semiconductorsubstrate in the solid-state imaging device according to an embodimentof the invention may be a semiconductor region provided in a part of asubstrate. A thickness “t” of the silicon part when the SOI substrate isused, i.e., the semiconductor substrate 11, is preferably relativelythick, for example, about 4 μm, and the semiconductor substrate 11 canbe the first conductivity-type of low impurity density about 10¹⁵ cm⁻³,for example, n⁻⁻-type.

After thinly forming an insulating film 14 by thermal oxidation on thesurface of the semiconductor substrate 11, second conductivity-typeimpurity regions 15 are formed for example in the region 1.8 μm deep ormore by implanting, for example, boron, etc., which is p-type impurity.When carrying out ion implantation to a relatively deep region from thesurface, it is preferable to use a high-energy ion implantationapparatus capable of handling mega electron volt. The secondconductivity-type impurity regions 15 are formed with its planer shapebeing made, for example, in a lattice shape and are arranged at evenintervals.

Process (2):

As illustrated in FIG. 6B, in the region 1.8 μm deep or more from thefirst surface 11A of the semiconductor substrate 11, secondconductivity-type impurity such as boron, etc. is implanted whileavoiding the regions that will become the upper parts, i.e., firstsurface 11A side regions, of the light reception units in subsequentprocesses, and thereby second conductivity-type impurity regions 16 tobe connected with the second conductivity-type impurity regions 15 areformed.

Because the first surface side regions of the light reception units areto be arranged at uneven intervals, the junction parts with the secondconductivity-type impurity regions 15 in the deep position implanted inthe above-described Process (1) are different in shapes, i.e., differentinjunction positions and in junction areas, between neighboring pixels.

Process (3):

Next, as illustrated in FIG. 6C, in the region in the depth not reachingthe insulating layer 14, i.e., in the depth from about 1.8 μm to about3.5 μm from the first surface 11A, first conductivity-type impurityregions 17 of n⁻-type, which will become the lower parts, i.e., secondsurface 11B side regions, of the light reception units, are formed bycarrying out ion implantation of first conductivity-type impurity ofn-type. In this case also, impurity implantation is carried out using ahigh-energy ion implantation apparatus capable of handling mega electronvolt as in the above-described second conductivity-type impurity regions15.

This ion implantation is carried out to the opening parts of the latticeshape of the first conductivity-type impurity regions 15 formed in theabove-described Process (1), so that the first conductivity-typeimpurity regions 17 are arranged at even intervals.

However, in this case, because the configurations of the pixels in thefirst surface 11A side regions are different between neighboring pixels,damages to the vicinity of the surfaces of the pixels due to ionimplantation differ between the neighboring pixels. Therefore, so as toreduce the difference in the degrees of damages to the vicinity of thesurfaces of pixels between neighboring pixels, as the ion for use in theion implantation, the one with small atomic weight, for example,phosphorus is preferably used.

On the other hand, to collect the electrons to the first surface 11Aside of the light reception units, that is, to the wiring circuit side,it is preferable to configure such that the impurity density increasestoward the first surface 11A side. Therefore, it is suitable to ionimplant while increasing the dosing amount several times toward thefirst surface 11A side.

Here, with respect to ion implanting to such a deep region, a method isalso conceivable to ion implant, after once exposing the second surface11B, i.e., the rear surface, from the rear surface side with relativelylow energy. However, in the present embodiment, in the above-describedProcess (3), ion implantation is carried out from the first surface 11Aside, i.e., from the front surface side of the semiconductor substrate11, with relatively high energy. The reasons for that are as follows.

In the solid-state imaging device according to an embodiment of theinvention, the junction positions of the first surface side regions andthe second surface side regions of the light reception units aredifferent between neighboring pixels. Because of this, if a differenceexists locally in the density of impurity such as phosphorus, etc.,there is a possibility that variation is caused in sensitivity,saturation, afterimage, etc. between neighboring pixels. To avoid orsuppress such variation, it is preferable to diffuse impurity more afterion implantation so that the local density difference becomes small andthe density distribution becomes gentle. To achieve this, a relativelystrong heating process is to be applied after implantation, however, ifsuch a heating process is applied, other ions are also diffused, so thatthe ion implantation process to the rear surface side regions, i.e., thesecond surface side regions of the light reception units is carried outbefore device separation regions in which details have not been formedyet are formed.

At this time, the relatively strong heating process that is carried outfor the subsequent formation of device separation regions can be usedfor diffusing the impurity of the first conductivity-type impurityregions 17 as the second surface 11B side regions, so that there is anadvantage that adding another process is avoided.

Carrying out ion implantation in this stage means that ion implantationis inevitably carried out from the first surface 11A side. In theabove-described Processes (1) through (3), ion implantation is carriedout to the area slightly narrow than the finally implanted area, and bymeans of diffusion by heating processes for subsequent formation ofdevice separation areas, the distribution is made to be gentlyoverlapped. Thereby, density gradient that is gentle in the horizontaldirection also is generated, and it becomes easy to move electrons tothe first surface 11A side regions of the light reception units.

Furthermore, when implanting impurity from the first surface 11A side,if implantation is carried out after formation of device separationregions, the implantation depth is caused to differ between the partswhere the impurity passes the device separation regions and the partswhere the impurity passes the areas other than the device separationareas. If all of the pixels are laid out in the same manner, the problemis relatively small, however, when the circuit configuration is the oneshared by a plurality of pixels as in the solid-state imaging deviceaccording to an embodiment of the invention, because the layout, i.e.the arrangement, of neighboring pixels are different, the variation inthe implantation depths of ions as described above becomes the cause ofgenerating a variation in sensitivity, saturation characteristics, etc.between neighboring pixels. Accordingly, when ion implantation iscarried out from the first surface 11A side, because of theabove-described reason also, it is preferable to carry out the ionimplantation before formation of device separation regions.

Process (4):

Next, as illustrated in FIG. 7A, device separation regions 18 areformed. Here, STI (Shallow Trench isolation) is used, in which a trenchis formed in the semiconductor substrate 11 of silicon, etc. and forexample SiO₂ is buried in the trench. Because it passes through theheating process at about 950° C. on the way, as described above, moreions implanted in the previous processes are diffused.

Process (5):

Thereafter, as illustrated in FIG. 7B, gate electrodes 19 are formedthrough the insulating layer 14.

Process (6):

As illustrated in FIG. 7C, the structures in the first surface 11A sideregions of the light reception units are formed. For example, arsenic,etc. of the first conductivity-type, in this case, of n-type, are ionimplanted to form first conductivity-type impurity regions 20. Then,although not shown, side walls of the gate electrodes 19 are formed, andboron, etc. of the second conductivity-type, in this case n-type, areion implanted and are activated without being diffused so much through alight heating process at bout 850° C. Although not shown, sources anddrains of transistors are also formed in this process.

Process (7):

As illustrated in FIG. 8, wiring layers 23 and 24 are formed above thegate electrodes 19 through an interlayer insulating layer 22, and asupport substrate 32 of silicon, etc. is stuck by means of an adhesive31 of BCB (benzocyclobutene) resin, etc.

Process (8):

Thereafter, the semiconductor substrate 11, i.e., SOI substrate, isreversed, the substrate 13 of the SOI and the insulating layer 12 formedby an embedded oxide film are removed by polishing and etching to exposethe second surface 11B. Further, a thin protective oxide film is formedon the surface of the second surface 11B, and as illustrated in FIG. 9,boron, etc. are ion implanted to the surface on the second surface 11Bside, and activation is carried out by means of laser annealing, etc. toform a second conductivity-type impurity layer 26 of p-type.Furthermore, an oxide film 40 is formed thereupon.

Process (9):

Thereafter, as illustrated in FIG. 10, a protective film 41 consisted ofa silicon nitride film, etc. is formed on the oxide film 40 on thesecond surface 11B, and furthermore, color filters 42 and on-chip lenses43 are formed. The color filters 42 and the on-chip lenses 43 are formedat approximately even intervals in positions corresponding to the secondconductivity-type impurity regions 21 and the first conductivity-typeimpurity regions 20 and 17, which constitute the light reception units.

Here, in the invention, the even intervals need not be complete andstrict even intervals, and it would be sufficient if the evenness is ata level that there is no problem from a practical point of view, andmore specifically, if it is in a range that special signal processingfor correcting variation in the intervals of the light reception unitsis unnecessary.

Further, in the solid-state imaging device according to an embodiment ofthe invention, the arrangements are different between the first surfaceside regions and the second surface side regions of the light receptionunits, that is, between the front surface side regions and the rearsurface side regions of the light reception units, however, it ispreferable that the optimum arrangement is selected as their relativepositional relationship. As an example, as in the above-describedembodiment, when pixels are arranged in units of four pixels, theoptimum arrangement can be selected using the following method.

Suppose that geometric gravity centers in the front surface side regionsof the light reception units for example PDs are arranged at unevenintervals in positions of points p1, p2, p3, and p4 on the coordinateaxes, and those in the rear surface side regions of the light receptionunits are arranged at even intervals in positions of points q1, q2, q3,and q4 on the coordinate axes. In this case, to determine the relativerelationship of the geometric gravity centers between the front surfaceside regions and the rear surface side regions of the light receptionunits, the maximum value pi−qi and the minimum value pj−qj (each of iand j is one of 1, 2, 3, 4) of p1−q1, p2−q2, p3−q3, and p4−q4 have onlyto satisfy; pi−qi=−(pj−qj). This means that the maximum value ofdeviation in the geometric gravity centers between the front surfaceside and the rear surface side of the PDs is made minimum.

In the example of FIG. 5B, the maximum value and the minimum value ofthe deviation in the geometric gravity centers are given by the lightreception units 61 b and 61 c, and the light reception units 61 a and 61d take the values between the maximum value and the minimum value. Thelight reception units 61 b and the light reception unit 61 c are in thesame shape if left and right are reversed, however, if they remain asthey are, the shapes of the light reception unit 61 b and the lightreception unit 61 c relative to the incident light Lb and the incidentlight Lc are different, so that the light reception units 61 b and thelight reception unit 61 c are different in shapes.

Note that it is apparent that this method can be applied to cases otherthan the case that pixels are arranged in units of four pixels.

So far, the description has been made taking the example ofconfiguration that four pixels in the column direction are shared;however, various other configurations have been proposed in the pixelsharing method. For example, the configuration that two neighboringpixels in the column direction are shared as illustrated in FIG. 11 hasbeen known, and also the configuration that two pixels each in thecolumn direction and in the line direction, i.e., four pixels in twolines and two columns, are shared as illustrated in FIG. 12 has beenknown. In FIG. 11 and FIG. 12, the parts corresponding to those of FIG.4 are denoted by the same reference symbols and overlapped descriptionis omitted. The invention can be similarly applied, including the casesof FIG. 11 and FIG. 12, to various solid-state imaging devices sharingpixel circuits by a plurality of pixels. It should be noted that in theexample illustrated in FIG. 11, the wirings 69 are arranged over thelight reception units, however, because the solid-state imaging deviceof the invention is configured as the rear-surface-incident-type device,there should be no problem. In the known front-surface-incident-typedevice, the configuration that wirings cross over the PDs may not beadopted because incident light is hindered. However, by adopting therear-surface-incident-type configuration, the freedom in the wiringarrangement can be increased as described above, so that furtherminiaturization of pixels and circuits becomes possible.

FIG. 13 illustrates an exemplary planer configuration of the lightreception units viewed from the rear surface side, i.e., the secondsurface 11B side, of the solid-state imaging device according to anembodiment of the invention. As illustrated in FIG. 13, in this example,the first conductivity-type impurity regions 17, which are the secondsurface side 11B regions and the incident side regions of the lightreception units 61, are arranged at approximately even intervals. As oneexample, there is shown in FIG. 13 an arrangement example of the firstconductivity-type impurity regions 17 corresponding to respectivecolors, green (G), red (red), and blue (B), in the color solid-stateimaging device for use in a single-CCD camera.

As described above, in the solid-state imaging device according to anembodiment of the invention, making the arrangement of the secondsurface side regions, i.e., rear surface side regions, of the lightreception units at approximately even intervals need not be complete andstrict necessarily, and is sufficient if that is within a range thatthere is no problem from a practical point of view. That is, even if theintervals slightly vary, there would be no problem if the intervals areat such a level that in subsequent signal processing, sampling can betreated as being carried out at even intervals.

Further, although it is preferable that all of the shapes and areas ofthe second surface 11B side regions, i.e., first conductivity-typeimpurity regions 17, of the light reception units 61 are the same,however, if they are arranged at even intervals, all of the shapes andareas need not be necessarily the same.

For example, in FIG. 14, it is configured such that the contact parts 70are arranged between the first conductivity-type impurity regions 17 onthe assumption that the contacts are dropped down to the p-well, etc.from the rear surface side, and an example of a planner shape is shownin which parts of the first conductivity-type impurity regions 17 areomitted. When such a planer shape is taken, the positions of thegravities are not at even intervals in a precise sense. However, evenwhen such configuration is taken, there would be no problem if theconfiguration is in such a level that sampling can be treated as beingcarried out at even intervals in subsequent signal processing.

Also, for example, to align the spectral sensitivities, it is alsopossible as illustrated in FIG. 15 to differentiate the areas of thefirst conductivity-type impurity regions 17 as the rear surface sideregions correspondingly to the positions of the color filters. In theexample illustrated in FIG. 15, although respective areas of the firstconductivity-type impurity regions 17 are different, positions of theirgravities are lined up at even intervals.

For example, when blue sensitivity is hard to be obtained, asillustrated in FIG. 15, only the light reception units 61 correspondingto blue color filters, in this example, the first conductivity-typeimpurity regions 17B, are made with their areas increased, and therebythe blue sensitivity can be increased.

Using the above-described solid-state imaging device according to anembodiment of the present invention, as illustrated in FIG. 16, it ispossible to make an imaging apparatus 100 according to an embodiment ofthe invention.

The imaging apparatus 100 illustrated in FIG. 16 is configured as anelectronic apparatus having the functions of a portable phone, a digitalstill camera, and a video camera, and other imaging functions. Theimaging apparatus 100 includes an imaging optical unit 101, asolid-state imaging device 102, a signal processing unit 103, and atemporary storage unit 105, a display device 106, a recording device107, an operation unit 108, and a power source unit 109, which areconnected with the signal processing unit 103 by a transmission bus line104.

The imaging optical unit 101 includes various lenses, a shutter, adiaphragm, etc., and guides light of an imaging subject to thesolid-state imaging device 102. The solid-state imaging device 102 isthe solid-state imaging device according to the above-describedembodiment of the invention, and photo-electrically converts the lightfrom the imaging subject imaged through the imaging optical unit 101 tobe outputted as a signal. The signal processing unit 103 includes a DSP(Digital Signal processor) for processing digital signals, etc., andcarries out formatting processing, etc. on image signals outputted fromthe solid-state imaging device 102 to be converted to data fordisplaying and recording.

The temporary storage unit 105 includes a RAM (Random Access Memory),etc., and temporarily stores image data processed by the signalprocessing unit 103. The display device 106 includes a liquid crystaldisplay, etc., and displays the image data processed by the signalprocessing unit 103. The recording device 107 includes a flash memory,an EPROM (Erasable Programmable ROM), an HD (hard disk), etc., andrecords image data. The operation unit 108 includes a shutter button forinputting a control signal controlling the operation of the imagingapparatus 100 from outside, various function keys, a cursor, etc. Thepower source unit 109 supplies the operation power to theabove-described units of the imaging apparatus 100.

By configuring the imaging apparatus 100 using the solid-state imagingdevice according to the above-described embodiment, it is possible tocarry out signal processing with sampling at even intervals, so that itbecomes possible to avoid signal processing from becoming complicated.

It should be noted that the configuration of the imaging apparatus 100is not limited to the above-described one, and various otherconfigurations may be adopted.

As described above, according to the solid-state imaging device and theimaging apparatus of the invention, with the provision of a common pixelcircuit for a plurality of pixels, while increasing the number of pixelsas the pixels are miniaturized, by arranging the rear surface sideregions of the light reception units at approximately even intervals asthe rear-surface-incident-type device, the incident light can be sampledat even intervals.

Further, the range of choices of the signal processing unit, forexample, a DSP, is expanded, and shading correction and other signalprocessing are avoided from becoming complicated. As a result, thesignal processing becomes light, and images become clean. Further,because of sampling at even intervals, the characteristics of pixels arenot decreased, and relatively clean images can be imaged.

As described above, even if PDs are arranged at uneven intervals becauseof the layout of pixel sharing, the incident light can be sampled ateven intervals.

Thereby, in contrast to the known solid-state imaging devices in whichPDs are arranged at uneven intervals, the following advantages can beobtained.

a) Signal processing is simple and concise, and as a result, arelatively clean image can be provided.

b) It is not necessary to design the signal processing unit, forexample, a DSP system, for each product of CMOS sensors, and it is notnecessary to differentiate the system of the signal processing unitbased on the arrangement of pixels.

c) Reproducibility of intervals of stripes and coloring manner whenstripe patterns have been imaged is satisfactory.

d) Because many choices are available for signal processing ICs, theapparatus configuring method is diversified.

e) How shading comes out does not change due to uneven intervals of theincident light reception units. For example, when a white subject isimaged, it does not occur that the upper edge and the lower edge arecolored and moreover colored in different colors such that correctionbecomes difficult, and it is avoided that signal processing becomescomplicated.

Also, in the known solid-state imagine device, with respect to themethod of solving the inconveniences caused by that pixel circuits areshared and that the light reception units are arranged at unevenintervals, when the invention is applied, the following effects areproduced.

f) It is not necessary to put a limitation to the shape of the openingand it can be avoided that the area of the light reception unit isdecreased.

g) It can be avoided that the characteristics of the pixel circuit suchas conversion gain, etc. is cause to decrease.

h) Because the area of the light reception unit can be kept as comparedwith the front-surface-incident-type device, lowering of the sensitivitycan be avoided.

i) Although each time when newly designing a solid-state imaging devicesuch as a CMOS sensor, etc. for a different pixel size, works werenecessary such as reselecting materials different in refractive indexand redesigning the shape of an in-layer lens, such complicated worksbecome unnecessary.

It should be understood by those skilled in the art that variousmodifications, combinations, sub-combinations and alterations may occurdepending on design requirements and other factors insofar as they arewithin the scope of the appended claims or the equivalents thereof.

What is claimed is:
 1. An imaging device, comprising: a semiconductorsubstrate having a first side and a second side, opposite the firstside, as a light incident side; a plurality of transistors disposed atthe first side of the semiconductor substrate; first and secondneighboring light reception units disposed in the semiconductorsubstrate; and third and fourth light neighboring reception unitsdisposed in the semiconductor substrate; wherein: the first, second,third and fourth light reception units share at least one first sharedtransistor from the plurality of transistors; each of the first, second,third and fourth light reception units comprises a respective impurityregion adapted to produce charge in response to incident light; theplurality of transistors comprises first, second, third and fourthtransfer transistors associated with the first, second, third and fourthlight reception units, respectively, the first, second, third and fourthtransfer transistors being positioned to allow charge produced by theimpurity regions of the respective first, second, third and fourth lightreception units to be selectively transferred to a first floatingdiffusion shared by the first, second, third and fourth light receptionunits; the first and second light reception units are arranged in afirst row; the third and fourth light reception units are arranged in asecond row parallel to and adjacent the first row; the first floatingdiffusion is disposed between the first and second rows so as to besurrounded by the impurity regions of the first, second, third, andfourth light reception units; and the impurity regions of the first,second, third and fourth light reception units are greater than or equalto one micrometer thick and less than or equal to five micrometers thickin the depth direction between the first and second sides of thesemiconductor substrate.
 2. The imaging device of claim 1, wherein theat least one first shared transistor comprises: a first reset transistorpositioned to allow charge to be selectively discharged from the firstfloating diffusion to a circuit node; a first amplification transistorcoupled to the first floating diffusion so as to allow a signalcorresponding to a potential of the first floating diffusion to beoutput to a signal line; and a first select transistor positioned toselectively enable operation of the amplification transistor.
 3. Theimaging device of claim 1, wherein: portions of the impurity regions ofthe first, second, third and fourth light reception units parallel toand adjacent the second side of the semiconductor substrate each have asubstantially square shape with at least one cutout portion.
 4. Theimaging device of claim 1, wherein: each of the first, second, third andfourth light reception units comprises a respective first impurityregion of a first conductivity type adjacent the first side of thesemiconductor substrate and a second impurity region of a secondconductivity type adapted to produce charge in response to incidentlight; and for each of the first, second, third and fourth lightreception units, the second impurity region is thicker than the firstimpurity region in the depth direction between the first and secondsides of the semiconductor substrate.
 5. The imaging device of claim 1,wherein the first, second, third and fourth light reception units arenon-overlapping in the depth direction between the first and secondsides of the semiconductor substrate.
 6. The imaging device of claim 1,wherein each of the plurality of transistors comprises a source regionand a drain region in the semiconductor substrate, a gate electrodebetween the source region and the drain region, and an insulting layerbetween the gate electrode and the semiconductor substrate.
 7. Theimaging device of claim 1, wherein: each of the first, second, third andfourth light reception units has a respective region in a plane parallelto and adjacent the second side; and areas of the regions of the first,second, third and fourth light reception units are substantially thesame.
 8. The imaging device of claim 1, wherein: each of the first,second, third and fourth light reception units comprises a respectivefirst impurity region positioned adjacent the first side of thesemiconductor substrate and a respective second impurity regionpositioned adjacent the second side of the semiconductor substrate; andan impurity density in the first impurity region of each light receptionunit is greater than an impurity density in the second impurity regionof that light reception unit.
 9. The imaging device of claim 1, whereinthe at least one first shared transistor comprises a first resettransistor positioned to allow charge to be selectively discharged fromthe first floating diffusion to a circuit node.
 10. The imaging deviceof claim 2, wherein the first reset transistor, the first amplificationtransistor, and the first select transistor are disposed in a third rowparallel to and adjacent the second row.
 11. The imaging device of claim10, wherein: the first amplification transistor is disposed between thefirst reset transistor and the first select transistor in the third row.12. The imaging device of claim 1, wherein: the imaging device furthercomprises an isolation region disposed between the impurity regions ofthe first and second light reception units; and for each of the firstand second light reception units, the impurity region is thicker thanthe isolation region in the depth direction between the first and secondsides of the semiconductor substrate.
 13. The imaging device of claim12, wherein the isolation region comprises a shallow trench isolationregion.
 14. The imaging device of claim 1, further comprising: at leastone wiring layer disposed above the first side and the plurality oftransistors such that the at least one wiring layer is on a side of thesemiconductor substrate opposite the light-incident side.
 15. Theimaging device of claim 14, further comprising a support layer disposedabove the at least one wiring layer such that the at least one wiringlayer is between the support layer and the first side.
 16. The imagingdevice of claim 1, wherein: the at least one first shared transistorcomprises a first reset transistor positioned to allow charge to beselectively discharged from the first floating diffusion to a circuitnode, and a first amplification transistor positioned to allow a signalcorresponding to a potential of the first floating diffusion to beoutput to a signal line; and the first reset transistor and the firstamplification transistor are arranged in a third row parallel to andadjacent at least one of the first row or the second row.
 17. Theimaging device of claim 16, wherein shapes of the first and second lightreception units along a cross-section in a depth direction between thefirst and second sides of the semiconductor substrate are different, andshapes of the third and fourth light reception units along across-section in a depth direction between the first and second sides ofthe semiconductor substrate are different.
 18. The imaging device ofclaim 1, wherein: shapes of the first and second light reception unitsalong a cross-section in a depth direction between the first and secondsides of the semiconductor substrate are different.
 19. The imagingdevice of claim 18, wherein: shapes of the third and fourth lightreception units along a cross-section in a depth direction between thefirst and second sides of the semiconductor substrate are different. 20.The imaging device of claim 1, wherein the at least one first sharedtransistor comprises a first amplification transistor coupled to thefirst floating diffusion so as to allow a signal corresponding to apotential of the first floating diffusion to be output to a signal line.21. The imaging device of claim 20, wherein the at least one firstshared transistor further comprises a first select transistor positionedto selectively enable operation of the amplification transistor.
 22. Theimaging device of claim 2, further comprising: a vertical drive circuit;a column circuit coupled to the signal line and configured to performcorrelated double sampling of the signal, convert the signal to adigital signal, and provide the digital signal to a horizontal bus; andan output circuit coupled to the horizontal bus and configured toreceive and process the digital signal therefrom.
 23. The imaging deviceof claim 22, wherein the output circuit is configured to perform atleast one of black level adjustment processing to adjust the digitalsignal or correction processing to correct the digital signal.
 24. Theimaging device of claim 22, further comprising a memory configured tostore a processed digital signal received from the output circuit. 25.The imaging device of claim 1, further comprising: first, second, thirdand fourth on-chip lenses corresponding to the first, second, third andfourth light reception units, respectively, and disposed adjacent thesecond side of the semiconductor substrate.
 26. The imaging device ofclaim 25, further comprising: first, second, third and fourth colorfilters disposed between the first, second, third and fourth on-chiplenses, respectively, and the second side of the semiconductorsubstrate.
 27. The imaging device of claim 26, further comprising: anoxide film disposed between the first, second, third and fourth colorfilters and the second side of the semiconductor substrate.
 28. Theimaging device of claim 27, further comprising: a silicon nitride filmdisposed between the oxide film and the first, second, third and fourthcolor filters.
 29. An imaging device, comprising: a semiconductorsubstrate having a first side and a second side, opposite the firstside, as a light incident side; a plurality of transistors disposed atthe first side of the semiconductor substrate; first and secondneighboring light reception units disposed in the semiconductorsubstrate; and third and fourth light neighboring reception unitsdisposed in the semiconductor substrate; wherein: the first, second,third and fourth light reception units share at least one first sharedtransistor from the plurality of transistors; each of the first, second,third and fourth light reception units comprises a respective impurityregion adapted to produce charge in response to incident light; theplurality of transistors comprises first, second, third and fourthtransfer transistors associated with the first, second, third and fourthlight reception units, respectively, the first, second, third and fourthtransfer transistors being positioned to allow charge produced by theimpurity regions of the respective first, second, third and fourth lightreception units to be selectively transferred to a first floatingdiffusion shared by the first, second, third and fourth light receptionunits; the first and second light reception units are arranged in afirst row; the third and fourth light reception units are arranged in asecond row parallel to and adjacent the first row; the first floatingdiffusion is disposed between the first and second rows so as to besurrounded by the impurity regions of the first, second, third, andfourth light reception units; the at least one first shared transistorcomprises a first amplification transistor coupled to the first floatingdiffusion so as to allow a signal corresponding to a potential of thefirst floating diffusion to be output to a signal line; the imagingdevice further comprises a fifth light reception unit disposed in thesemiconductor substrate and neighboring the first light reception unit;the fifth light reception unit comprises an impurity region adapted toproduce charge in response to incident light; and a portion of the firstamplification transistor is disposed between the impurity regions of thefirst and fifth light reception units.
 30. The imaging device of claim29, wherein: portions of the impurity regions of the first, second,third and fourth light reception units parallel to and adjacent thesecond side of the semiconductor substrate each have a substantiallysquare shape with at least one cutout portion.
 31. The imaging device ofclaim 29, wherein: each of the first, second, third and fourth lightreception units comprises a respective first impurity region of a firstconductivity type adjacent the first side of the semiconductor substrateand a second impurity region of a second conductivity type adapted toproduce charge in response to incident light; and for each of the first,second, third and fourth light reception units, the second impurityregion is thicker than the first impurity region in the depth directionbetween the first and second sides of the semiconductor substrate. 32.The imaging device of claim 29, wherein the first, second, third andfourth light reception units are non-overlapping in the depth directionbetween the first and second sides of the semiconductor substrate. 33.The imaging device of claim 29, wherein each of the plurality oftransistors comprises a source region and a drain region in thesemiconductor substrate, a gate electrode between the source region andthe drain region, and an insulting layer between the gate electrode andthe semiconductor substrate.
 34. The imaging device of claim 29,wherein: each of the first, second, third and fourth light receptionunits has a respective region in a plane parallel to and adjacent thesecond side; and areas of the regions of the first, second, third andfourth light reception units are substantially the same.
 35. The imagingdevice of claim 29, wherein: each of the first, second, third and fourthlight reception units comprises a respective first impurity regionpositioned adjacent the first side of the semiconductor substrate and arespective second impurity region positioned adjacent the second side ofthe semiconductor substrate; and an impurity density in the firstimpurity region of each light reception unit is greater than an impuritydensity in the second impurity region of that light reception unit. 36.The imaging device of claim 29, wherein the at least one first sharedtransistor further comprises a first reset transistor positioned toallow charge to be selectively discharged from the first floatingdiffusion to a circuit node.
 37. The imaging device of claim 29, whereinthe at least one first shared transistor further comprises a firstselect transistor positioned to selectively enable operation of theamplification transistor.
 38. The imaging device of claim 29, wherein:the imaging device further comprises an isolation region disposedbetween the impurity regions of the first and second light receptionunits; and for each of the first and second light reception units, theimpurity region is thicker than the isolation region in the depthdirection between the first and second sides of the semiconductorsubstrate.
 39. The imaging device of claim 38, wherein the isolationregion comprises a shallow trench isolation region.
 40. The imagingdevice of claim 29, further comprising: at least one wiring layerdisposed above the first side and the plurality of transistors such thatthe at least one wiring layer is on a side of the semiconductorsubstrate opposite the light-incident side.
 41. The imaging device ofclaim 40, further comprising a support layer disposed above the at leastone wiring layer such that the at least one wiring layer is between thesupport layer and the first side.
 42. The imaging device of claim 29,wherein: the at least one first shared transistor further comprises afirst reset transistor positioned to allow charge to be selectivelydischarged from the first floating diffusion to a circuit node; and thefirst reset transistor and the first amplification transistor arearranged in a third row parallel to and adjacent at least one of thefirst row or the second row.
 43. The imaging device of claim 42, whereinshapes of the first and second light reception units along across-section in a depth direction between the first and second sides ofthe semiconductor substrate are different, and shapes of the third andfourth light reception units along a cross-section in a depth directionbetween the first and second sides of the semiconductor substrate aredifferent.
 44. The imaging device of claim 29, wherein: shapes of thefirst and second light reception units along a cross-section in a depthdirection between the first and second sides of the semiconductorsubstrate are different.
 45. The imaging device of claim 44, wherein:shapes of the third and fourth light reception units along across-section in a depth direction between the first and second sides ofthe semiconductor substrate are different.
 46. The imaging device ofclaim 29, further comprising: a vertical drive circuit; a column circuitcoupled to the signal line and configured to perform correlated doublesampling of the signal, convert the signal to a digital signal, andprovide the digital signal to a horizontal bus; and an output circuitcoupled to the horizontal bus and configured to receive and process thedigital signal therefrom.
 47. The imaging device of claim 46, whereinthe output circuit is configured to perform at least one of black leveladjustment processing to adjust the digital signal or correctionprocessing to correct the digital signal.
 48. The imaging device ofclaim 46, further comprising a memory configured to store a processeddigital signal received from the output circuit.
 49. The imaging deviceof claim 29, wherein the at least one first shared transistor furthercomprises: a first reset transistor positioned to allow charge to beselectively discharged from the first floating diffusion to a circuitnode; and a first select transistor positioned to selectively enableoperation of the amplification transistor.
 50. The imaging device ofclaim 49, wherein the first reset transistor, the first amplificationtransistor, and the first select transistor are disposed in a third rowparallel to and adjacent the second row.
 51. The imaging device of claim50, wherein: the first amplification transistor is disposed between thefirst reset transistor and the first select transistor in the third row.52. The imaging device of claim 29, further comprising: first, second,third and fourth on-chip lenses corresponding to the first, second,third and fourth light reception units, respectively, and disposedadjacent the second side of the semiconductor substrate.
 53. The imagingdevice of claim 52, further comprising: first, second, third and fourthcolor filters disposed between the first, second, third and fourthon-chip lenses, respectively, and the second side of the semiconductorsubstrate.
 54. The imaging device of claim 53, further comprising: anoxide film disposed between the first, second, third and fourth colorfilters and the second side of the semiconductor substrate.
 55. Theimaging device of claim 54, further comprising: a silicon nitride filmdisposed between the oxide film and the first, second, third and fourthcolor filters.
 56. An imaging device, comprising: a semiconductorsubstrate having a first side and a second side, opposite the firstside, as a light incident side; a plurality of transistors disposed atthe first side of the semiconductor substrate; first and secondneighboring light reception units disposed in the semiconductorsubstrate; and third and fourth light neighboring reception unitsdisposed in the semiconductor substrate; wherein: the first, second,third and fourth light reception units share at least one first sharedtransistor from the plurality of transistors; each of the first, second,third and fourth light reception units comprises a respective impurityregion adapted to produce charge in response to incident light; theplurality of transistors comprises first, second, third and fourthtransfer transistors associated with the first, second, third and fourthlight reception units, respectively, the first, second, third and fourthtransfer transistors being positioned to allow charge produced by theimpurity regions of the respective first, second, third and fourth lightreception units to be selectively transferred to a first floatingdiffusion shared by the first, second, third and fourth light receptionunits; the first and second light reception units are arranged in afirst row; the third and fourth light reception units are arranged in asecond row parallel to and adjacent the first row; the first floatingdiffusion is disposed between the first and second rows so as to besurrounded by the impurity regions of the first, second, third, andfourth light reception units; the at least one first shared transistorcomprises: a first reset transistor positioned to allow charge to beselectively discharged from the first floating diffusion to a circuitnode; a first amplification transistor coupled to the first floatingdiffusion so as to allow a signal corresponding to a potential of thefirst floating diffusion to be output to a signal line; and a firstselect transistor positioned to selectively enable operation of theamplification transistor; the first reset transistor, the firstamplification transistor, and the first select transistor are disposedin a third row parallel to and adjacent the second row; fifth and sixthneighboring light reception units disposed in the semiconductorsubstrate; and seventh and eighth light neighboring reception unitsdisposed in the semiconductor substrate; wherein: each of the fifth,sixth, seventh and eighth light reception units comprises a respectiveimpurity region adapted to produce charge in response to incident light;the plurality of transistors further comprises fifth, sixth, seventh andeighth transfer transistors associated with the fifth, sixth, seventhand eighth light reception units, respectively, the fifth, sixth,seventh and eighth transfer transistors being positioned to allow chargeproduced by the impurity regions of the respective fifth, sixth, seventhand eighth light reception units to be selectively transferred to asecond floating diffusion shared by the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighthlight reception units; the fifth and sixth light reception units arearranged in a fourth row parallel to and adjacent the third row; theseventh and eighth light reception units are arranged in a fifth rowparallel to and adjacent the fourth row; and the second floatingdiffusion is disposed between the fourth and fifth rows so as to besurrounded by the impurity regions of the fifth, sixth, seventh andeighth light reception units; and the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighthlight reception units share at least one second shared transistor fromthe plurality of transistors.
 57. The imaging device of claim 56,wherein the at least one second shared transistor comprises: a secondreset transistor positioned to allow charge to be selectively dischargedfrom the second floating diffusion to a circuit node; a secondamplification transistor coupled to the second floating diffusion so asto allow a signal corresponding to a potential of the second floatingdiffusion to be output to a signal line; and a second select transistorpositioned to selectively enable operation of the second amplificationtransistor; and wherein: the second reset transistor, the secondamplification transistor, and the second select transistor are disposedin a sixth row parallel to and adjacent the fifth row.
 58. The imagingdevice of claim 56, wherein: portions of the impurity regions of thefirst, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth lightreception units parallel to and adjacent the second side of thesemiconductor substrate each have a substantially square shape with atleast one cutout portion.
 59. The imaging device of claim 56, wherein:each of the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh andeighth reception units comprises a respective first impurity region of afirst conductivity type adjacent the first side of the semiconductorsubstrate and a second impurity region of a second conductivity typeadapted to produce charge in response to incident light; and for each ofthe first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth lightreception units, the second impurity region is thicker than the firstimpurity region in the depth direction between the first and secondsides of the semiconductor substrate.
 60. The imaging device of claim56, wherein the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh andeighth light reception units are non-overlapping in the depth directionbetween the first and second sides of the semiconductor substrate. 61.The imaging device of claim 56, wherein each of the plurality oftransistors comprises a source region and a drain region in thesemiconductor substrate, a gate electrode between the source region andthe drain region, and an insulting layer between the gate electrode andthe semiconductor substrate.
 62. The imaging device of claim 56,wherein: shapes of the first and second light reception units along across-section in a depth direction between the first and second sides ofthe semiconductor substrate are different, shapes of the third andfourth light reception units along a cross-section in a depth directionbetween the first and second sides of the semiconductor substrate aredifferent, shapes of the fifth and sixth light reception units along across-section in a depth direction between the first and second sides ofthe semiconductor substrate are different, and shapes of the seventh andeighth light reception units along a cross-section in a depth directionbetween the first and second sides of the semiconductor substrate aredifferent.
 63. The imaging device of claim 56, wherein: each of thefirst, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth lightreception units has a respective region in a plane parallel to andadjacent the second side; and areas of the regions of the first, second,third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth light reception unitsare substantially the same.
 64. The imaging device of claim 56, wherein:each of the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh andeighth light reception units comprises a respective first impurityregion positioned adjacent the first side of the semiconductor substrateand a respective second impurity region positioned adjacent the secondside of the semiconductor substrate; and an impurity density in thefirst impurity region of each light reception unit is greater than animpurity density in the second impurity region of that light receptionunit.
 65. The imaging device of claim 56, wherein: the firstamplification transistor is disposed between the first reset transistorand the first select transistor in the third row.
 66. The imaging deviceof claim 56, wherein: the imaging device further comprises an isolationregion disposed between the impurity regions of the first and secondlight reception units; and for each of the first and second lightreception units, the impurity region is thicker than the isolationregion in the depth direction between the first and second sides of thesemiconductor substrate.
 67. The imaging device of claim 66, wherein theisolation region comprises a shallow trench isolation region.
 68. Theimaging device of claim 56, further comprising: at least one wiringlayer disposed above the first side and the plurality of transistorssuch that the at least one wiring layer is on a side of thesemiconductor substrate opposite the light-incident side.
 69. Theimaging device of claim 68, further comprising a support layer disposedabove the at least one wiring layer such that the at least one wiringlayer is between the support layer and the first side.
 70. The imagingdevice of claim 56, wherein: shapes of the first and second lightreception units along a cross-section in a depth direction between thefirst and second sides of the semiconductor substrate are different. 71.The imaging device of claim 70, wherein: shapes of the third and fourthlight reception units along a cross-section in a depth direction betweenthe first and second sides of the semiconductor substrate are different.72. The imaging device of claim 56, further comprising: a vertical drivecircuit; a column circuit coupled to the signal line and configured toperform correlated double sampling of the signal, convert the signal toa digital signal, and provide the digital signal to a horizontal bus;and an output circuit coupled to the horizontal bus and configured toreceive and process the digital signal therefrom.
 73. The imaging deviceof claim 72, wherein the output circuit is configured to perform atleast one of black level adjustment processing to adjust the digitalsignal or correction processing to correct the digital signal.
 74. Theimaging device of claim 72, further comprising a memory configured tostore a processed digital signal received from the output circuit. 75.The imaging device of claim 56, further comprising: first, second,third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth on-chip lensescorresponding to the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventhand eighth light reception units, respectively, and disposed adjacentthe second side of the semiconductor substrate.
 76. The imaging deviceof claim 75, further comprising: first, second, third, fourth, fifth,sixth, seventh and eighth color filters disposed between the first,second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth on-chip lenses,respectively, and the second side of the semiconductor substrate. 77.The imaging device of claim 76, further comprising: an oxide filmdisposed between the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventhand eighth color filters and the second side of the semiconductorsubstrate.
 78. The imaging device of claim 77, further comprising: asilicon nitride film disposed between the oxide film and the first,second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth color filters.